Island life

We waited around for the car to arrive it wasn't too much later than they finally said it would... island time. Once it finally arrived I got in and headed to a trail that is pretty close to where we are staying. It was labeled a fairly easy hike with not a lot of views, but since I hadn't done the Carkeek hill since we left I wanted to do something. It was pretty much as advertised, fairly easy with a couple of pretty cool views but nothing crazy... except lots and lots of mud. Since returning from the hike I have washed off, went snorkeling and taken a shower and my toes are still red from the famous Kauai red dirt. Perhaps by the next pisces party my toes will be pasty white again :) I expect the other hikes we do will be much better, but this one is nice and convenient so I have no excuse for not getting out (hopefully every day) and doing it.

Now that Chris and Brooke are here, Matt has someone to go hiking with. I dropped the three off for a 10 mile hike this morning so I could go run errands and read Harry Potter. Everyone's happy!

I stopped off above the Wailua Valley to get some shots of the river where we're going kayaking later this week, and then used computer magic to stitch them together.

Click to enlarge:

The hike looks innocent enough on a map. Pretty much a straight through, north-south 10.5 mile hike on the Powerline Trail. It starts with a low water bridge where Matt threw B over his shoulder and carried her across Minnesota-style...like a giant sassauge. I decided to take my shoes and socks off and wade through the cool, shin-deep water. Had I known what awaited my poor old Keens, I wouldn't have gone through the formalities.

Nika and Chris posted about the hike Chris, Brooke and I took that went pretty much across the island. It was pretty cool but labeled mild and not very scenic by the travel books we have. Perhaps without the mud it could be considered mild, but with it, I would have to say not very mild, however, it was much more scenic than I expected. We didn't go too high, but it was still high enough to see most of the island, at one point on the hike we could see both the eastern and southern shores of the island... it did have a cost, we were also covered with Kauai's famous red dirt. It was a much slipperier hike then most I have taken and I have also not seen puddles quite as milky looking as those we saw. All and all a pretty good day.

Today we rented kayaks to go up the Wailua River and hike to Secret Falls. It was a really fun trip and I am pleasantly worn out, but here's the secret about Secret Falls: it's more of a trickle and not that exciting once you get there.

Down past all the fancy resorts in Poipu, there is a road marked "No Trespassing." If you ignore that (as we did), and drive slowly down a deserted dirt road until it is dangerous to go any further, you will be rewarded with the sight of Maha'ulepu. Beauty so great that it cannot be captured on film (or bits) is well worth the trip!

I'm a little late getting pics up, but here are a few from the kayak trip

Matt and Danika showing off their form:

This morning as we assembled for our Zip'n'Dip adventure, things started off badly as we realized the configuration of the group: the 4 of us, a nice early-20s guy who is a friend of one of the guides, and three families traveling together, with 5 tween-teen kids between them. They were from California. Southern California. Malibu. With all that you might think that entails. There was some unfortunate plastic surgery on the ladies, some unfortunate superiority on the men, and an unfortunate sense of entitlement on most of the kids.

Yesterday, we headed around to the south end of the island to spend some time in Waimea Canyon. It was lovely, but it was a lot of driving and all of my navigators were sleepy or woozy from the switchback turns.

I'm sure you know I'm not much of a hiker, but I always wanted to be. Today I went on the longest hike I've ever gone on, 3-and-a-half miles, if you can believe that--and it was great! Yeah, it took two hours, but I'm sure I would have been faster if both my calves hadn't cramped up around the quarter-mile mark of the Kuilau trail (and stayed cramped). I don't think I'll be racing Matt on the 13 mile hike he has planned for the day after tomorrow, but it's a start.

And it's lucky we went on the hike today, because that's how we found out about the total lunar eclipse that's happening tonight and well visible from Hawaii. We'll have to stay up late, but we'll try to get some pictures.

Chris was kind enough to bring (and leave) the Kauai trail book he got last time he was on the island. We also have the The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook, 5th Ed. (which we borrowed from Marc and Tina) and a State Park Recreation Map of Kauai. The three of them have been great resources for finding trails to hike. I have been out on a few hikes now and I thought I would share my experiences. So far I have hiked the PowerlineTrail, the trail to Secret Falls, the Okolehao Trail, part of the Kalalau Trail, the Hanakapiai Falls Trail, the Kuamoo-Nounou Trail and the Kuilau Ridge Trail. There is for sure one new hike I plan to do, the Kalalau Trail to Hanakoa Falls, and perhaps one or two other new trails. If/when I hike them, I will add new blog entries.

Of the hikes listed above I would say the one I liked the best is the Okolehao Trail. I think it has offered the biggest bang for the buck. It is a pretty short hike but you get some great views of Hanalei Bay as well as most of the north side of the island. Follow the link for some details and photos from all the hikes.

I meant to post this a few days ago, but I have been too busy. Danika posted about our hike already, but I wanted to added my two bits. After snorkeling at Tunnels Monday (I still need to do a blog about it, you won't believe what I saw... and got a photo of), I was very happy to get back and have Danika tell me she had been looking though the hiking book and wanted to do a hike. She had a trail picked out and we cross referenced it with the other book and the park map and found a better trail that went to the same place, just from a different direction. We ended up selecting the Kuilau Ridge trail. We put together everything we needed for the hike got in the Vue and started of for the trail head.

We got to the trail head where there were a few other vehicles parked. One of the vehicles was a truck with 3 dogs in the kennel in the back. We found the trail and started hiking. The trail was mostly dry which was nice, but there were a few places where it was a little slick. The trail was also being used for horseback riding, so we got to dodge (and smell) horse crap, which is always a good time.

Shortly after we started off, we heard what sounded to me like a person trying to make pig noises. Hunting season for wild boar is open, so it didn't seem too odd (to me anyway, it was still pretty weird to Danika). We passed some other folks on the trail and they said it was a hunter who had lost a dog who was making the noises. When we passed the hunter he had a antenna and seem to be trying to track something with it. On the way back out when we passed the hunter there were now 3 or 4 dogs with him a couple which had radio collars on. We said, "It looks like you found them", he said "Nope, there are still three missing". I guess you need a lot of dogs to hunt wild boar.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with Danika, her calves kept cramping, but she just kept stretching them out and continuing on the trail. The trail itself had some pretty amazing views (see the my other hiking blog entry) and being able to share them with Danika just made them all the better.

Yesterday I hiked the Kalalau Trail again. This time I went 6 miles in and then did a ½ mile side trip to Hanakoa Falls. All in all, I went at least 13 miles and did about 3000 ft of elevation. The trail for the side trip to the falls wasn't marked so I probably spent over half an hour hiking around trying to find it. Here is a list of things I learned from doing the 13 mile hike (some if which I knew, but for some reason decided to ignore):
• I can do a 13 mile hike! :)
• It is probably better to pace yourself (I did the first 2 miles in less than 40 minutes, averaging just over 3 mph but it made the next mile which had 800 ft of elevation not very much fun)
• Wear socks regardless of how comfortable you think your shoes are
• 3 liters of water is not enough (for me anyways)
• Taking a hand towel to wipe the sweat off your face to keep it and sunscreen from running into your eyes is a good idea
• If you don't normally jog for exercise, jogging 3 miles a day and half before a 13 mile hike is probably not a very good idea
• Soaking in warm ocean water after a long hike is very rejuvenating

After giving my legs (and feet) a day of rest yesterday, I thought I would try another hike this morning to see how it felt. I decided to hike the Okolehao Trail again. I got to the trail at 7:45am and started hiking. It had rained last night (it pretty much rains every night here) so the trail was pretty slick. It was a bit more challenging hike this time than last when the trail was dry, but it was still a nice hike. After hiking about 5 minutes my legs were warm and both my legs and feet felt pretty good. Last time I was on the trail there were a lot of little green fruits. They looked a little like guava, but they seemed too small and the ripe ones were red not yellow. This time I realized what they were, strawberry guavas, and they ripened quite a bit since last time, there were a lot of red ones.

I did the Okolehao Trail one more time today. I told Danika about all the strawberry guavas the last time so she suggested this time I take a bag with and bring a few back. I brought back enough to fill a cereal bowl. We will be able to enjoy them for a few days. As good as they are, I am still missing my daily crisp, tart Granny Smith apple. The tropical fruit is pretty good here, but the two Granny Smiths have pretty much sucked. I think being able to walk across the street and go snorkeling or swim in the ocean makes up for it, but I do still miss them.

At least one more hike left. I plan to rest the next two days before I try the 22 mile hike on Wednesday. My feet were pretty good again today. I have about 10-15 new small cuts from the coral during yesterday's swim. None of the cuts are that bad. One cut opened the remains of what was the blister that was my pinkie toe. Last night it looked strange, so it got a bandage and some Neosporin. Today it still looked a little strange so I took a closer look. That is actually when I noticed the coral had cut part of it open. I peeled it away and half a thimble full of sand poured out of it. That was a little strange to see. I cut away the rest of the blister before today's hike and my toe felt fine on the hike. It should be ready for Wednesday. Wish me luck for Wednesday's hike, I know I can do it, but a little extra luck won't hurt :)

Well, it is 5:20am and I am up and getting ready for the hike. I have to admit, yesterday morning's torrential rain had me a bit discouraged. This morning, however, is absolutely beautiful. I went outside to see what the weather was like and how cloudy the sky was. I saw very few clouds, just a very bright less than half moon and orion. I think it is a good sign of what is to come on today's hike. See you again in about 12 hours :)

Hmm, where should I begin? When I started walking the hill in Carkeek back in April and changing my diet to be in better shape for our trip to Hawaii (so I could keep up with Chris and Brooke), I never dreamed it would help me prepare for a 22 mile hike. There were many days I didn't want to go walk the Carkeek hill, but I always went out. Had I known what it was going to allow me to do, I think it would have been much easy to get out each day. Knowing that I can hike the Kalalau Trail in one day gives me great feeling of accomplishment. Thanks to all who encouraged me to do it. Now, some details about the hike...